Power Stunts

[CandidGamera]

Apologies if this has been discussed before in recent memory. What do folks do for power stunts in their Champions games?

 

Personally, I treat it like a power push, if the stunt is logical. A character with an Electrical Blast wants to recharge a battery? Sure. Power push. If the active points of the stunt become important, I base them on the active points of the power. If it becomes a regularly used stunt, make them buy it. (Perhaps transforming the power into a Multipower in the process.)

[Rapier]

Re: Power Stunts

 

Apologies if this has been discussed before in recent memory. What do folks do for power stunts in their Champions games?

 

Personally, I treat it like a power push, if the stunt is logical. A character with an Electrical Blast wants to recharge a battery? Sure. Power push. If the active points of the stunt become important, I base them on the active points of the power. If it becomes a regularly used stunt, make them buy it. (Perhaps transforming the power into a Multipower in the process.)

 

Almost every single one of our characters has a Power Skill. It reflects just this kind of thing. We just make a skill roll (with mods for difficulty or utility). If you succeed, you can do it.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Power Stunts

 

Power Skill is the route I go in my campaign, too; but I also allow a Familiarity: Power as an "Everysuper" Skill, so that any super character can do something like this on an 8- roll.

 

There are guidelines in the UNTIL Superpowers Database for how much of the Active Points in your Power you can manipulate with an unmodified Power Skill roll; beyond that there are suggested penalties. Personally I tend to just go with a straight roll (with optional penalties or bonuses based only on situation) for the whole shebang. That promotes more creative power improvisations IME.

[OddHat]

Re: Power Stunts

 

A successful Power Skill roll lets you pull off any trick I consider to be a logical, trivial use of your power. Do it more than once and I'll ask you to buy it.

 

More significant tricks using Power Skill (say adding an advantage one time) would call for a -1 per 10 active points to the roll, and would have to be things I'd have otherwise allowed that character to purchase.

 

Spending one earned XP gets you a critical success on any one roll or maximum effect with a power, once per game session. One point will also allow you to re-distribute the points in the power any way you'd like within your special effect, once per game session. My current players almost never use it.

[Rapier]

Re: Power Stunts

 

There are guidelines in the UNTIL Superpowers Database for how much of the Active Points in your Power you can manipulate with an unmodified Power Skill roll; beyond that there are suggested penalties. Personally I tend to just go with a straight roll (with optional penalties or bonuses based only on situation) for the whole shebang. That promotes more creative power improvisations IME.

 

It also helps to move things along. Player A wants to PowerSkill so you stop and get out the book (since I doubt I would ever remember the penalties chart), look it up, figure out how many points he needs, how that relates to the penalty chart, roll, figure out effects.

 

ACK! In the mean time, The Blue Tornado has gone back to his book and Red Tiger has ran for more chips. It may be more realistic and reliable to use those guidelines, but some of my group tend to be a little...how shall I say this...attentionally-challenged so I need to keep things moving.

[Silbeg]

Re: Power Stunts

 

Spending one earned XP gets you a critical success on any one roll or maximum effect with a power, once per game session. One point will also allow you to re-distribute the points in the power any way you'd like within your special effect, once per game session. My current players almost never use it.

That is an interesting idea... I may have to steal it!

 

Question, though... do you allow the expenditure of XP before or after the "to-hit" roll, or whatever? Just curious!

 

I also can see why they wouldn't be using it very often... XP are rather expensive to use as a resource like that!

[caris]

Re: Power Stunts

 

Like has been mentioned, I like using Power Skill for this. One thing I have done as a player is when I had a character that I intended on being able to do a lot of power stunts was went ahead and bought a limited VPP for it. Obviously, this option has all of the disadvantages inherent to a VPP.

[JakSpade]

Re: Power Stunts

 

A lighter hearted idea to try is giving everyone a free 1/2 Variable Advantage, REQ a Skill Roll. So, for a Familiarity: Powers 8- roll, they can add a +1/2 advantage to their power (armor piercing, piercing, 0 endurance, area of effect 1 hex, autofire, etc).

 

Also, something you might want to do when dealing with power stunts is keep copies of the UNTIL Superpowers Database I & II around, so people can pick powers to simulate with their power stunts, and then you can keep a list of powers they have tried, and give them the option of spending experience on those powers...

 

Jak

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Power Stunts

 

For trivial power uses consistent with SFX, I'm pretty much OK allowing it as a freebie. Once it becomes significant, you should be looking at paying the points or using the Power Skill.

[OddHat]

Re: Power Stunts

 

That is an interesting idea... I may have to steal it!

 

Question, though... do you allow the expenditure of XP before or after the "to-hit" roll, or whatever? Just curious!

 

I also can see why they wouldn't be using it very often... XP are rather expensive to use as a resource like that!

 

Before only, though I did try allowing it after. It's meant to simulate that moment in the comic or movie where "We have just this one shot".

 

Zornwil's new game system uses a very interesting Luck Chit system for a similar effect, assigning chits to both the PCs and NPCs. I've been thinking about porting a more limited form of that over.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Power Stunts

 

Like most others we use the Power Skill. Penalties based on situation, active points you're trying to mess around with, GM fiat, how well vocalized the request is... most often just a strait roll however.

[zornwil]

Re: Power Stunts

 

For trivial power uses consistent with SFX' date=' I'm pretty much OK allowing it as a freebie. Once it becomes significant, you should be looking at paying the points or using the Power Skill.[/quote']

We're the same, and I have to admit, I'm interested to see so many actively using Power Skill. Our group never took to it, largely because we're all such long-time HERO players we're just not used to it, don't think of it, and haven't had a sense in the past we needed something like this. We also don't tend to think of powers in terms of being quite so variable as the Power Skilll tends to allow for, people tend to think of their powers in more finite, rationalized, traditional HERO terms. Not to suggest I'm uninterested in Power Skill, I think it's a very cool idea and very useful. But as a play group we've not worked it in still.

[Rapier]

Re: Power Stunts

 

We're the same' date=' and I have to admit, I'm interested to see so many actively using Power Skill. Our group never took to it, largely because we're all such long-time HERO players we're just not used to it, don't think of it, and haven't had a sense in the past we needed something like this. We also don't tend to think of powers in terms of being quite so variable as the Power Skilll tends to allow for, people tend to think of their powers in more finite, rationalized, traditional HERO terms. Not to suggest I'm uninterested in Power Skill, I think it's a very cool idea and very useful. But as a play group we've not worked it in still.[/quote']

 

We started the same way. There was a number of things about 5th that we just kind of turned our heads (in that puppy dog "huh?" manner) and shrugged. We gave it a try and it's worked out real well. It also gives us a simple mechanic instead of me just making a snap decision. Want to turn that flame blast into a welder? Give it a go, -3.

[OddHat]

Re: Power Stunts

 

In my GenCon game I tried a slightly simplified version of the USPD Power Skill rules (though more complicated than what I'd been doing) that worked well, allowing some pretty cinematic moments.

 

• Name the effect, within your SFX, you're trying for.
   
  Roll your Power Skill -1 per 10 active points. If the active points aren't obvious, the GM will assign them.
   
  The minus to the roll is a multiplier to the power's END cost. So, if the roll is at -5 (50 active points) the power will cost 5 x END.
   
  If you wish to use that power again after the end of the scene, you must purchase it normally.

 

The straight USPD rules also work, and Derek Hemforth's Power Skill -10 rule from his Challenge of the Superfriends events is probably better for a quick, minimal number crunching game.

 

I'm still fond of my old "Spend one XP" method as well, and may modify it slightly;

• Make your Power Skill roll, and you can spend saved XP to add a slot to a MP or otherwise purchase a power even in the middle of an adventure.
   
  If you don't have enough unspent XP to pay for the Power, it goes off successfully when you pay and roll. The version added to your sheet will be heavilly limited (activation roll, increased END cost, concentration, etc). You can then buy off the limits normally.

 

Example: Kanae (a character from the New Circle game) wants to command the winds in order to fly at 15". She is a weather controller with a power skill of 20-, a Selkie Magic multipower, and 2 unspent XP. She makes her skill roll at (Flight 15' = 30 active points) -3, spends her unspent XP, and can fly at 15" until the end of the scene or until she turns the power off.

 

As she does not have enough unspent XP to add the full 15" Flight "Wind Riding" power to her sheet, and does not want to add it to her MP, she instead adds: Wind Riding, 5" Flight, O DCV Concentration Throughout, x5 END Cost, Real Cost = 2 points. WIth future XP, if she chooses, she can buy off those limits and buy up her inches of flight.

[zornwil]

Re: Power Stunts

 

Having played in OddHat's game, I can vouch for it working well. Umm, and not just because I played Kanae...